...Where there just may be a stairway to heaven lurking around the street corner

This is where culture and counter culture collide and we see in 20/20 hind sight, night vision specs x ray greedy eyed

Oh you know where we at

We’re in a world where dirty money is still king

..And the code of conduct is protect your neck

...And Everybody watches everyone else

“For Instance…since the ‘fiends’ is looking to beat the spotthe ‘runners’ is watching the ‘fiends’ Now the ‘look-outs’ is watching the ‘runners’The ‘runners’ are watching the spotAnd while the spot is being ran by the ‘hustlers’The ‘hustlers’ is being watched by the ‘dealers’And while the ‘dealers’ is being watched by the ‘stick-up-kids’The Police is watching the ‘stick-up-kids’ and the ‘dealers’We watching the policeAnd the eye in the sky is watching us all”

BoCoCa…..itself, is not a neighborhood. In fact it is an umbrella term or acronym if you will for three neighborhoods in the borough of Brooklyn. Those three neighborhoods; Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens are best known for their endless brownstones, trendy restaurants, lounges and laid back atmosphere. Boerum Hill is currently undergoing a wave of “hipster” inflow, as well as artists and young urban professionals (otherwise known as yuppies). Many of the residents in this lively neighborhood are young families as the Brooklyn brownstone belt specifically in this region is terrific for raising children. They, like the daily visitors to the neighborhood enjoy a large stock of independent boutiques, art galleries and fantastic restaurants and locally owned markets.
Cobble Hill like it’s neighboring communities is largely residential, covered in brownstones and Italianate influenced architecture. The neighborhood is supported by family run businesses, Italian meat markets and trendy restaurants it’s streets, lively and most retaining their past aura and charms. Carroll Gardens the final neighborhood unlike it’s neighbors sports front gardens to their gorgeous endless brownstone blocks. The neighborhood hosting a large French population holds celebrations on Bastille Day every year. The residents of this mostly quiet, and very desirable community enjoy café’s and produce markets, family run shops, antique stores all on shady tree lined streets and avenues.
These were among the most enjoyable tours I’ve done in the region and if asked rank near the top of my favorites. There is a very good chance that I criss crossed through neighborhoods and shots of Carroll Gardens showcase Cobble Hill too, some Cobble Hill shots will showcase Boerum Hill and I hope you understand this is bound to happen. We will explore these three neighborhoods in three posts with 20 pictures per post. This will be the first, Boerum Hill

I loved doing it. I haven't paid too much attention to my account @ SSC and lost my password all together. I recently showed a friend of mine that didn't believe I did all of this. I thought it was a real shame that I didn't take too much care or appreciation on the other site and since I can't/don't have much interest in signing back in there and still have my password here I wanted to go through all my favorites which are still a lot and showcase it again. I'll be doing a 'best of Brooklyn' type of post next. So come back if you want and check it out.

The next themed round-up is going to be a best of Brooklyn photo tour. I can safely say Brooklyn was my favorite of the New York boroughs to cover. You'll get some posts that will give you a lot of details about the neighborhood and some that only give you a little...I guess I got lazy? Anyway I figure we can explore Brooklyn in a circle (kind of) starting near the east river and ending near the east river.
There are quite a few neighborhoods like Clinton Hill, Flatbush, Flatlands, Canarsie, Dyker Heights, Gowanus, etc., etc...they were not featured in this spread but if you are interested...naked new york over @ the SSC.

Well start first off in Brooklyn's downtown and feature Downtown itself, Cadman Plaza, Fulton Street Mall and metrotech. Downtown is connected directly to Manhattan through the Manhattan Bridge which leads right into it. It is at the north west section of the borough.

Heading east now and deeper into the borough will bring us into the neighborhoods of Bensonhurst and Gravesend

Bensonhurst is a large working-middle class neighborhood in south Brooklyn. This particular area has long been referred to as Brooklyn’s “Little Italy” and while it still has a huge Italian core community the Italian-Speaking residents are growing older and losing more of the language as the years progress. This change in Italian-American society in New York as the generations lose touch with their grand parents home country coupled with demographic changes in the neighborhood has proven that we are in the last days of this dying image. Today immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Caucus region and China are building and establishing strong communities throughout the neighborhood.

Gravesend, also in South Brooklyn and nearby the Bensonhurst neighborhood is a middle class residential neighborhood that at first built itself on top of it’s great horse racing industry, the neighborhood which sits close to Coney Island at one point in time boasted three large horse racing tracks. The neighborhood has since quieted down. It is largely Italian and Jewish but also goes unnoticed as one of New Yorks plethora’s of culture and diversity. This now sleepy section of Brooklyn is home to strong but small Sephardic, Irish, Ukranian, Russian, Sicilian and Mexican communities.

We take a quick dip to the south toward the beach side communities of Brooklyn, Coney Island and Brighton Beach

Coney Island- Is New York City’s seaside, theme park neighborhood. Currently the neighborhood is undergoing renovation and redevelopment. The neighborhood has long been a destination for amusement, entertainment and ‘vacation’ for New York City residents on the Island of Manhattan and in Brooklyn. Since the middle of the 19th Century this neighborhood has boasted of it’s seaside resorts and hotels. Street cars began reaching this section of Brooklyn around the Civil War in the 1860’s. In the Guilded era this Brooklyn neighborhood constructed bath houses, brothels, themed attractions and a carousel. Its residential blocks ‘grew up’. The subway reaches the neighborhood shortly after the turn of the century and the world famous Nathan’s hot dogs begin serving up red hots for pennies in 1916. Robert Moses who for decades would carve out and construct over and over again throughout the city and the state of New York would transform the neighborhood again around the end of world war 2. He moved the boardwalk back, building the New York Aquarium over where ‘’Dream-Land” once stood. A seaside amusement park neighborhood for the next couple of decades would shed itself (not by choice) of just about all of it’s amusement parks. The neighborhood declines and slightly begins to decay. Times were rough in Coney Island. Donald Trump proposed we build luxury hotels and casinos, but gambling is never legalized and vacant lots were here to stay. Mayor Bloomberg, who has displayed interest in the neighborhood for some years now has seen the neighborhood build back up under his term. With amusement parks going up and restorations being made this once doomed beach community has got its swag back.

Next to Coney Island is the ocean side neighborhood of Brighton Beach. This section and particularly this neighborhood is known for its large Russian population. The nickname for this mini-city by the sea is “Little Odessa” due to the large amount of Ukrainians who actually hailed from the actual Odessa in the Ukraine. During the 70’s and 80’s many Russian Jews, Ukrainians, Armenians, Russian, Georgians and others from the former Soviet Union transformed the neighborhood when they began settling there. Today the Brooklyn Hood is a pretty close-knit community under the elevated rail. Walking along Brighton Beach Avenue is like walking in another country. Very few store front signage is in English except for franchises like Dunkin Donuts or Pizza Hut and instead are written in the Russian Alphabet. The area is known locally for being a Russian Mafia hang out…you could walk out onto the Boardwalk and see them in front of Tatiana drinking tea and sucking sugar cubes. It was an interesting neighborhood to say the least. I give you, Little Russia by the sea……

Across the bay and moving north back into the borough of Brooklyn we reach the neighborhood of Sheepshead Bay

Sheepshead Bay is north of Brighton Beach just beyond the Bay that seperates it from Coney Island. The neighborhood is very similar to Brighton Beach, Demographically. It combined with Brighton Beach and the Manhattan Beach neighborhood as well as spill over north on the Ocean Parkway is undoubtedly New York City’s massive Russian claim on the city. Its middle class with quiet residential blocks that all pour out onto a bay promenade and marina. The neighborhood boasts large Jewish and Turkish communities as well as an emerging Chinese presence.

Heading into the center of the borough now we come across a different feature. This one, a boulevard connecting the beaches to the centralized park of the borough. This is the Ocean Parkway and the neighborhood of Midwood as well as the area of Kensington and Parkville

Ocean Parkway is a Fredrick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux planned boulevard in the center of Brooklyn that runs from Prospect Park to Brighton Beach. It is a pretty wide boulevard serving as an expressway at its north to the park and it features grassy medians with playing tables and bike lanes. The bike path is heavily tree lined and on either side of the parkway between the residential neighborhoods, east-west, are linear parks. The Parkway crosses through quite a few neighborhoods but I’m only going to showcase a couple of them. The area of Midwood and the Kensington/Parkville area

Here is a sample of life on the parkway as well as off..

Off the Ocean Parkway in south central Brooklyn is a neighborhood with quiet middle class streets. The neighborhood of Midwood is a polyglot, a cornucopia of cultures growing in an area that has been predominantly Jewish. Now while its orthodox and Hasidic Jewish community still dominates this Ocean Parkway hood is a lesser known of New York’s most diverse. Its leafy tree lined residential blocks, set for the most part off the crowded commercial streets as well as quick access to Prospect Park, served by the B and Q lines has been attracting new immigration since the Koch administration. Among the residents of Midwood are the Polish, Guyanese, Turkish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Persian Gulf States, Korean, Jamaicans, Chinese, Mexican and Israeli.

Kensington & Parkville are a middle class residential area near Prospect Park and off the Ocean Parkway. The neighborhood is extremely diverse with large Jewish & Hasidim, Pakistani, Irish, Albanian, Russian, Bangladeshi, Puerto Rican, Chinese, Arabic and Caribbean communities.

Heading north brings us to the flagship park of the borough of Brooklyn, Prospect Park. The park is centrally located and essentially all neighborhoods circumnavigate it. It seperates the western neighborhoods from eastern Brooklyn and northern Brooklyn from the center of the Borough and the southern neighborhoods.

At the northern entrance to the park is a smaller pocket park and grand arch. This entrance to the park is called Grand Army Plaza and it connects the neighborhoods of Park Slope, Prospect Heights and Crown Heights

Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza

Soldiers and Sailors Arch of the Grand Army Plaza, Eastern Parkway side of Prospect Park

Brooklyn’s very own Prospect Park

At 585 acres containing a prominent, leafy Park, Botanic Garden and a Zoo, Prospect Park is the Central Park of Brooklyn. The park was built by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux, the same architects of Central Park. The park grew around a big lake, long meadow and heavily wooded ravine, its 3 distinctive regions. It has a grand entrance known as Grand Army Plaza to its north at Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway. The Brooklyn Public Library sits adjacent to the Plaza and a short distance down the Eastern Parkway is the Brooklyn Museum.